Example seminar – The ballad
 In this seminar, you will…
 Be introduced to a form of poetry known as the ballad
 Analyze a sample ballad
 See the elements expected in a poetry seminar
What is a ballad?
 We tend to
think of
ballads as
dramatic
love songs
fit for the
divas of
pop music
 The word ballad originally
derived from an Old
French word meaning
“dancing song.”
 Listen to this modern
example of a ballad
 What do you gather
about this genre?
In media res
O, what can ail thee, knightat-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered
from the lake,
And no birds sing.
- La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats
 Ballads start quickly,
without much introduction
or narration
 What is troubling the knight-atarms?
 Why is he alone and hanging
back?
 Why is nature silent?
 The ballad plunges into its
subject, and leaves us with
questions
Two types of ballads
 Folk ballad
 A song/narrative poem
transmitted orally that tells a
story
 Focuses on one incident
 Begins in the midst of a crisis
(in medias res)
 Proceeds to the resolution
with little background
information, character
development, or descriptive
detail
 Literary ballad
 are composed and
written down by known
poets, usually in the style
of folk ballads
 Example: The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Early ballads
 Were often about
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Tragic love
Domestic conflicts
Wars
Shipwrecks
Sensational crimes
Exploits of outlaws
The sensational
 Just like today with tabloid headlines
and soap operas, certain forms of
popular entertainment tended
toward the sensational.
 Plot Examples
 Three dead sons visit mother for
dinner
 A maiden is headed for the gallows,
and her family refuses to help
Later ballads
 Historical events
 Romantic heroes
 These ballads were written toward end of the
Middle Ages when English was accepted as a
language of literary merit
Structure of the ballad
 Typically
 Four lines per stanza
 Four accented
syllables in lines one
and three
 ABCB rhyme scheme
"Mother dear, may I go
downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of
Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
- “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
He holds him with his
glittering eye
The Wedding Guest stood
still,
And listens like a three
years’ child:
The Mariner hath his will.
The Wedding Guest sat on a
stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that
ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
Ballad passages
 In a group of four,
determine the rhyme
scheme of the ballad
passage you’ve been
given
 Be prepared to share your
findings
 Ballad passages
 Result:
 There are a variety of
possible rhyme schemes
 Takeaway:
 The ballad maintains a
story and a pattern
 Stock descriptive phrases
 A word or phrase habitually used by a group of people: a cliché
 Example: blood-red wine
 One less thing for the singer to remember
 Refrain in each stanza (repetition)
 Contributed to the song’s rhythm and reinforced its theme
 Provided the singer with time to think of the next verse
 Incremental repetition
 A line or stanza is repeated, but with an addition that advances the
story
Characteristics
 Treats a highly dramatic situation in the simplest language
 Uses a considerable amount of dialogue (sometimes local
dialect)
 Deal with
 Strong elemental passions of humanity
 Powerfully depicted love
 Hatred, faith, revenge, fear, courage, loyalty
 Many involve the supernatural and end tragically
Long Black Veil
 "Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad written by
Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded
by Lefty Frizzell
 Listen to this version of the ballad as performed by Mick
Jagger and The Chieftains
 In a group, look closely at the lyrics
 Summarize the story that is told in a few sentences
The plot
 A saga song, "Long Black Veil" is told from the point
of view of an executed man falsely accused of
murder. He refuses to provide an alibi, since on the
night of the murder he was having an affair with his
best friend's wife, and would rather die and take their
secret to his grave than admit the truth. The chorus
describes the woman's mourning visits to his
gravesite, wearing a long black veil and enduring a
wailing wind.
Ballad conventions
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Story begins in media res
Third person narration
Dramatic storyline
Rhyme scheme
Theme of death and loss
Poetry seminar
 In a presentation of 10-12 minutes,
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Brief introduction to the poet
Introduce genre
Reading and/or presentation of the poem
Explanation of the meaning of the poem
How does the poem reflect the conventions of its
genre?
 Analysis of literary devices
 Brief personal response